Red
by TheOrangeNinjaUnicornSuperhero
Summary: Legend says that the fates tie a red string around the ankles of people destined to meet. Not only will these people meet, but they're destined to be lovers, soul mates. This string can tangle and stretch, but it will never break. Oneshot.


**I have had this idea forever, and I couldn't find the time to write it! So here I am, at midnight, letting it all out. **

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Percy Jackson. But sadly, I don't. Also, I don't own the quotes from The Titan's Curse, and Mark of Athena below. Those are also Rick's**

**Sorry for typos and OOCness!**

* * *

Sally woke to a baby's cry. Her baby, to be more precise. Groaning, she climbed out of bed and made her way down the hall to Percy's room. She entered the blue-green nursery with fish stickers swimming across the walls and picked up the crying baby. As soon as he felt her gentle touch, he stopped crying, and looked up at her with big, watery eyes. She smiled through her exhaustion, and kissed Percy's forehead. Sitting down in the rocking chair next to the crib, she started to sing an old lullaby her mother had sung to her before the plane crash. In moments, he was asleep again. Quietly and gently, she tip-toed back to the crib and laid Percy down again. He rolled over, but stayed asleep. With a sigh of relief, she turned to leave the nursery. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of red near her baby's foot. She whipped back around, only to find it was nothing.

"Probably my mind playing tricks on me," she said to herself. "I haven't been getting much sleep anyway."

She turned and left the nursery, and went back to bed, not to worry about that flash of red for many years.

* * *

After the graduation, Frederick Chase was looking forward to a peaceful and quiet evening in his little apartment. He fumbled with his keys, looking for the one that fit the lock on his doorknob. Sensing a faint glow from behind him, he turned to see a tiny basket floating down from the heavens, and eventually landing on his doorstep. He crouched down and carefully started to unwrap the blankets near the top of the basket. It must be a present from Athena! What the evening sun illuminated was not at all what he was expecting.

In the basket, lay a little baby. A tiny girl who couldn't be more than a week old, but already had short blond curls. As though she sensed the light, her eyes opened. She didn't cry, she didn't smile, she just sat there, as though she was analyzing the man before her. He choked on a sob when he realized that those gray eyes were the same as Athena's, and this must be their child.

He scooped the bundle of blankets up, and gently carried the baby inside. Her eyes had already closed again, so he laid her on his bed. He smiled tenderly at his little girl, and turned to leave the room, seeing as it was only 5:00. He thought he saw a flash of red near the girl's ankle, but when he turned back to her, he realized it was nothing.

He gazed at the girl for a moment longer, then whispered, "Annabeth. Annabeth Chase."

He kissed her tiny forehead, and went to go find some food for dinner.

* * *

Sally drove down the empty farm road toward camp where she would be picking up Percy for the school year. Thank goodness she had found him a spot at Meriwether Prep. She pulled up to the border, and climbed out of the car, only to receive a giant hug from Percy that almost knocked her down.

"Hey, Percy. Excited for school?" I asked.

He groaned. "Don't remind me."

We loaded his bags into the trunk, then climbed in and headed back toward the city. He started telling her stories about camp, and his quest, and all his new friends. When he mentioned Annabeth, she saw something red down by his feet. Trying to figure out what it was, she almost wrecked the car and killed them both, but Percy yelled, "Mom! What are you doing? Drive the car!" The poor kid was hanging on for dear life. "I didn't survive that quest just to die in a car crash!"

Sally yanked on the wheel and regained control of the car. When she glanced down at Percy's feet, there was nothing red, and no sign that there had ever been.

* * *

Mr. And Mrs. Chase were sitting at dinner, listening to Annabeth's story about her quest. Bobby and Matthew had finished their food ages ago, and had run off to play. They were both done too, but had decided to humor Annabeth and listen to her story. And besides, it was actually pretty interesting.

She told them about her new friend Percy, and the quest she went on to save the world. When she finished, she got up to take her plate to the sink. Frederick noticed that something red appeared to be tied around her ankle.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing at her foot.

She just looked puzzled. She looked down at her feet. "What's what?"

He looked back to her ankle, and sure enough, nothing was there. "Never mind," he said. "I thought I saw something." He got up to put away his plate too.

* * *

"The sky," cried Percy. "Give it to me."

Artemis couldn't give it to him. There wasn't too many male heroes that could gain her appreciation, but this hero had managed. "No, boy. You don't know what you're asking. It will crush you!"

"Annabeth took it!" he said. I could see the subtle admiration that flooded from him when he mentioned the girl.

"She barely survived. She had the spirit of a true huntress. You will not last so long."Artemis couldn't give it to him. The fates already had decided a destiny for this certain hero, and she could see it just by looking at him. There was a thin, red cord tied around his ankle. Clear, strong, and unbreakable, it looped around his ankle, then the girl, Annabeth's ankle.

"I'll die anyway," he told the goddess. "give me the weight of the sky!" He cut Artemis's chains, and braced himself for the heavy load. Reluctantly, she gave him the sky, and went to join her huntress in battle.

She held Zoe as she died, and placed her among the stars. Somehow, this hero had earned the respect of her impossibly stubborn huntress. He had survived the sky, and now him and Annabeth had permanent souvenirs. Besides Aphrodite, she was the only one to notice the duo swaying slowly, as though they were both hearing a slow dance. It wasn't the sort of awkward dance between most kids their age, but a comfortable and beautiful one. They were both so at ease, so relaxed. The fates had done well.

* * *

The Argo II was going slowly, but surely. Piper had done her daily inspection on the progress Leo and the rest of Cabin 9 was making, and was now heading off to the canoe lake to clear her thoughts. As she reached the beach, she noticed Annabeth standing ankle deep in the water, staring off into the waves. There was something red around Annabeth's ankle, like a long string. It lead off into the distance, stretched to it's limit, but not breaking. She blinked, and it was gone. Deciding it was a trick of the light, she left to join the rest of her cabin in training.

* * *

The Pax sped along the coast of San Francisco. Hazel watched as Percy stared out into the city, as though he was trying to find his girlfriend from here. His face was lit up red from the sunset. His ankle was red too, but it was hidden in the shadows. Upon closer inspection, she noticed it was a string. It was stretched to it's limit, leading out of the boat and to who knows where, but it was too strong to ever break. It couldn't be there though. She shook her head, and it disappeared. It must have been a trick of the light.

* * *

Reyna watched both Percy and Annabeth surge forward into each other's arms. It was as if the thick red string tied around both of their ankles was pulling them together like magnets. They kissed, and she felt a pang of jealousy in her chest. But these two were meant to be together. If the red string wasn't obvious enough, then the way she judo-flipped him was. He slammed into the concrete, and it was pretty much the sweetest thing she had ever seen.

* * *

Frank charged down the stairs to the stables. There, on the glass bay doors, Percy and Annabeth were asleep in each other's arms. They looked so comfortable, so at ease, so _happy_, he almost didn't want to wake them. In the dawn light, he thought he could see something red entwined around their ankles.

"Oh... You are in _so_ much trouble." he half shouted. The red something was gone.

* * *

"Percy, let me go." croaked Annabeth. "You can't pull me up."

Percy wouldn't let go. _Couldn't_ let go. Because at that moment, even he could see the red string around their ankles. It was thick as cables, strong, and gave off a faint red glow. He couldn't tell if Annabeth could see it too, but he knew he could never let her go. "Never."

He yelled some things to Nico, then turned back to Annabeth. "We're staying together. You're not getting away from me. Never again."

Annabeth's heart melted a little. "As long as we're together."

* * *

Years later, Percy and Annabeth were laughing into the camera. It had taken months, but eventually they had recovered from Tartarus. They still occasionally had nightmares, but they were together, and nothing could change that. And as long as they were together, they were happy.

Annabeth was dressed in a beautiful white dress, and Percy in a nice tux. They smiled, danced, and laughed all night long. It was the best day of both of their lives. From now on, if one of them woke up from the nightmares, the other would be there for them. On that day, the day of their wedding, the thick red cables became visible to all at one point.

* * *

**There you go, everyone! Thanks for reading! I'm going to bed now! I use way too many exclamation points!**

**-Orange**


End file.
